It is incredible to realize how often donkeys
are depicted in Art. They are present in paintings, sculptures, stained
glasses, etc. It is really interesting
to analyze the purpose or motive of donkeys’ representation and compare them between
former and more contemporary forms of Art.
While
searching, we can find several types of donkey depiction: terracotta
sculptures, panels, tomb painting, medieval stained glasses… In fact, these
animals were extremely typical throughout history. Arguably any layman can
infer they played an important and significant role in each part of the world,
in many different societies.
Below,
we can appreciate a sculpture made during prehistoric period, a rustic
representation of a donkey carrying panniers, found in Cyprus (an island country in the Eastern
Mediterranean Sea,
north of Egypt). This piece of art and of history is housed and exposed in the
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, in United Kingdom. Scholars and experts
associate this depiction with donkeys’ primary and essential function at that
time: as pack animals, helping in burden transportation of copper to the coast.
Besides this model, others are commonly cited in history books, as evidence of
settlement of some peoples along the northern Troodos (largest mountain range
of Cyprus) and north coast. One more time, these animals supported historical
studies and findings that helped deciphering important facts of societies’
development; in this case, related to valuable goods exploitation and commerce.
Terracotta model of a donkey,
as a pack animal
Indeed,
donkeys continue to be a good model and vehicle for art expression nowadays. We
can find some contemporary representations of these animals scattered
throughout many countries. One that really caught my attention was an
exhibition in Egypt as part of the 2013 Caravan Festival of the Arts, in Cairo, in which donkeys were
adopted as its theme.
The
exhibition had the purpose of using a representative animal in that area as a parody
of the “Cow Parade”, an art program originated in Zurich in 1998, where
fiberglass cow sculptures decorated by many local artists are placed in public
venues, such as parks, train stations, etc. Thence, donkey, as the symbol of
peace and compassion in Christian and Muslim religions, were chosen the ideal animal.
It counted with the participation of many artists, who provided the real sized
and quarter-sized fiberglass sculptures and their cover painting and/or
decoration.
Several
donkeys were decorated by several points of view and interpretation of many different
artists. Some of them received colorful covers and adornments, each one
representing a specific message.
Donkey with horoscope symbols,
angels, birds and flowers. The artist wanted to revive her childhood, bringing
her peace and evasion of reality.
In the picture
above the foreground donkey was decorated with symbols associated with rural
Egyptian landscape of palm trees, courtyard houses, and pigeon towers. The
background donkey represents a passage of Koran regarding religious
intolerance: “Those that worship Allah but do not follow his laws are like a
donkey which carries books and understands them not.” In other words, one
cannot memorize the Koran without understanding it; otherwise, one will just
hold information, not retain it.
In this sculpture
the artist wanted to address the question “Am I slave or free?”, transforming
the donkey into a wind-up clock.
As we can see, donkeys can be
represented in a realistic way, frequently observed in ancient forms of art, or
as a customized symbol or vehicle for human points of view, expressions,
questioning, criticism, etc.
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